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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 1974)
Page 2 Portland/Observer Thursday. January 10. 1974 WE SEE THE WORLD f t ALFRED L. HENDERSON E ditor/P ub lish er THROUGH BLACK EYES EDITORIAL FOCUS Nationalize oil Promote Bennie Brown W h e th e r the present o il crisis is a co ntrived m e th o d o f increa sing th e p ro fits and p o litic a l p o w e r o f th e o il co m p an ies or w h e th e r it is the result o f poor p la n n in g on th e ir part is o f no s ig n ific a n c e -- the im p o rta n t fa ct is that the cu rren t lack o f o il products could b rin g the e n tire n a tio n to a g rin d in g h alt. Lack o f fu e l fo r industry a nd re su ltin g u n e m p lo y m e n t, lack o f transportation fo r goods a nd fo r p e o p le , shortage o f fu e l fo r h e a tin g hom es, even to m o b iliz e fo r n a tio n a l security, a ll le a ve this co un try in an unexcusable position. W h a teve r the reason, n a tio n a liz a tio n o f the o il industry is in o rd e r! N o o th e r industry o f such s ig n ifica n ce to the co u n try re m a in s beyo nd the co n tro l o f the fe d e ra l g o ve rn m e n t. Public u tilitie s , tru ckin g , co m m u n ica tio n , b ro a d ca stin g — a ll are subject to g o ve rn m e n t co n tro l, no m atter how lim ite d . A p re ced en t has been set by the te m p o ra ry n a tio n a liz a tio n o f th e ra ilro a d s d u rin g a p ro lo n g e d strike. W hat is the reason fo r the present shortage? Is it m e re ly the p ro fit m otive ? Is it g re ed w hich c o u ld th ro w this country into a w a r w ith the A rab states? Is it a w a y to u n d e rm in e a n d d iscred it the e nviro n m e n ta lists? Is it insurance to get the A laska p ip e lin e regardless o f dangers to the e n v iro n m e n t or o f the rights o f the A la skan natives? W e have been ta u g h t since g ra d e school that m o n o p o lie s are ille g a l, a n d ye t our g o ve rn m e n t sits by and a llo w s the o il co m p an ies to d iv id e up the country a m o n g th e m a nd to destroy the n a tio n 's econom y. N ot o n ly are the o il co m p an ies not re g u la te d , but th ey are g ive n d e p le tio n a llo w a n c e s that a llo w them to m ake huge p ro fits w ith o u t p a y in g co rp o r a te inco m e taxes. The th e o ry b e h in d this is that som e d a y th ere w ill be no o il in the g ro un d fo r th em to sell. H ow e ver, this is not a v a lid a rg u m e n t w h e n w e re a lize th a t a ll o f the n a tu ra l resources o f this country sh ou ld b e lo n g to the p eo ple. Rather than tax d ed uctio ns because some d a y they c a n 't sell our o il, the o il co m p an ies sh ou ld pay the p e o p le fo r our o il -- a n d pay us a d e p le tio n a llo w a n c e because th e y are re m o v in g an ir- re p la c a b le resource. Is it true? Is President N ixo n so in d e b te d to the o il com panies that he ca n n o t fu n c tio n in this crisis? If not, let h im ta ke a ctio n ! w h o w o u ld also lik e to have tra in in g or pro m o - and p ro m o te d to the GS leve ls a nd the positions they w o u ld n o w h o ld had th ey been w h ite This m ig h t seem u n fa ir to w h ite e m p lo ye es w h o w o u ld also lik e to have tra in in g or p ro m o tio n. But if the fe d e ra l m e rit system w orks, w e have to assum e th a t they have had o p p o rtu n itie s fo r a d v a n c e m e n t th ro u g h o u t th e ir fe d e ra l service If a n y o f them h ave been d e n ie d u n fa irly , then th ey to o should seek leg al recourse. But this does not change the fact that Bennie Brow n, w h o now has e le v e n years o f fe d e ra l service, in c lu d in g th re e years in the a rm e d ser vices, has been the ob|ect o f d is c rim in a tio n and deserves co rrective action. Law and O rder has bee n th e cry o f the N ixon A d m in is tra tio n — w h ic h is e a sily the most corrupt a d m in istra tio n in the h istory o f the U nite d States. This b a ttle cry -- Law a nd O rd e r — w hen a ccom pa nie d by c rim in a l acts, treason and co rru p tio n , has served to u n d e rm in e th e fa ith o f the com m on m an in a system o f laws. President N ixo n has bee n in o ffic e fo r fiv e years and has had fo u r a tto rn e y g e n e ra ls, the CIA, the FBI, a nd the Justice D ep artm en t a ll suspect in the W a te rg ate a ffa ir a nd re la te d a ctivitie s. The law s that w e are to ld are passed to protect th e p e o p le hove been used a g a in st us. W e are to ld by the President th a t he is b e yo n d the reach o f the law s and the courts. But w h e re is the interest o f the p e o p le ? H. Rap B ro w n s a id s e v e r a l y e a rs a g o : " I w i ll not be bound by law s th a t m y p e o p le had no part in m aking — I w ill not be bou nd by courts w h e re m y p eo ple have no re p re s e n ta tio n ." The w h ite press co lle d Brown a ra d ica l -- a re v o lu tio n a ry — but the m a io rity o f Black p e o p le and a large percen ta ge o f the w h ite poor agree. We have no part in the w ritin g or the e n fo rce m e n t o f the la w The la w is not an instru m e nt to protect the p e o p le — but, ra th e r is an instru m e nt o f oppression. Dr. likes editorials Dear Mr. Henderson: gressive year in 1974! This letter is to express my appreciation for all three of your editorials in the December 27, 1973 Portland Observer. They were factual, lucid and timely. They were fitting statements for your last issue of the paper for 1973 and suggest a bright future for your efforts in 1974. The sense of integrity of the editorial writer(s) came through clearly in the read ing -- a refreshing differ ence from the double talking that seems to be the mode of the monopoly press in this area. I have been reading the Portland Observer for the past year and am impressed with its growth in overall quality. Lay outs, editorials, selection of news and feature stories, etc., all have shown real progress. I extend you best wishes for another pro- Sincerely, Donald Corwin Jones Chief Management Consul tant, MEDIA. Inc. Compliments Dear Mr. Henderson: I want to compliment you, the Observer, and its staff on your special Christmas Edi tion with the beautiful photo graphs and artwork by the children in our community. It was a most beautiful presentation. Sincerely, Keith Burns, State Senator Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201 North Killingsworth. Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 3137. Portland. Oregon 9720M. Telephone: 2N3 21H0. iuei:il<ei Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Subscriptions: $5.25 per year in the Tri County area. $0.00 per year outside Portland. Second Class Postage Paid at Portland. Oregon The Portland Observer'» offiiaal | misi I ioii is expressed only in it’s Publisher's Column I We See The World Through Black Eycsl. Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the iiulividual writer or submitter anil does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer 4 Hour*: Food To G o, (ur l i d o l liv a ry an d II am 10 pm II •<" *» •« • C a te rin g S e rv ice ihur Lrl Sun 283-4573 213 N. Killingsworth / CONGRESS P A S S E D A N A D N EN D N E N T TO T H E ENERGY A C T THAT MOULD BAN ALLOCATIONS OF FUEL FOR BUSING CHILDREN PAST N E IG H B O R - p HOOP SCHOOLS. They had to blam e the e n e rg y crisis on som ebody A Letter to the Mayor An open letter to Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt: Dear Neil: I am sorry to keep writing you about the Clarence Harper Jr. rase: however. I am unsettled about the case even after reading the report of the police investigation. I want to share with you the [xjints at which I am con cerned. They are as follows: 1. There is no reporting of the court action in w hich Mr. Harper defended himself be fore a jury of all white members in Judge Field's court on October 23. Clar ence tells me this jury ac quitted him of the charges brought against him by the police! This would seem to cant p investigation i (4 rt'port and it is not. What troubles me is that the police brought this action against him and that he should have had to spend (LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Whose law and order? MEMBER B ennie B row n, an e m p lo y e e o f the U.S. Forest Service, has asked fo r im m e d ia te p ro m o tio n to GS11 a nd back p ay to 1968, w h e n he was first p ro m ise d tra in in g . Had Brow n been accepted fo r tra in in g in the fie ld he chose -- C ontracting Procurem ent he w o u ld have n ow reached the GS11 leve l, as others w h o have u ndergonev tra in in g since then have. W hy w as B ennie Brown passed o ver w he n n ew tra in e e s w e re selected? His request a nd the o ffic ia l re c o m m e n d a tio n w e re in his file He p e rio d ic a lly re m in d e d the p ersonnel d e p a rtm e n t of his interests. He never w as to ld he was not q u a lifie d . He can o n ly b e lie v e it was because he is Black. There are no Blacks in the re g io n a l o ffic e in C o n tractin g Procurem ent. This in itse lf seems strange since one o f the duties o f that d e p a rtm e n t is to insure that contractors d o in g business w ith the Forest Service liv e up to th e ir a ffirm a tiv e action o b lig a tio n . It m akes one w o n d e r h ow w e ll a d e p a rtm e n t th a t d o e sn 't w a n t a Black e m p lo ye e carries o ut this resp on sibility. B e nn ie Brow n should be p ro m o te d to GS11 im m e d ia te ly , fo r d is c rim in a tio n and n eglect have caused this fe d e ra l agency to o v e rlo o k its Black e m p lo y e e s w h e n p la n n in g tra in in g and p ro m o tion . The se le ction m ethods -- w h e th e r the p e r sonal pre fere nce s o f supervisors or o vert d is c rim in a tio n by the e n tire a ge ncy — have had Sp e c ia liz in g In B ar-O -Fo ods Vigilance praised Dear Mr. Henderson: I wish to express apprecia tion to you and your staff for your December 20, 1973 Edi toriai Focus: "Racists At tack Blacks in the Name of the Poor", and an article, "PMSC Challenged”. Both articles were objective and forthright. The personal attributes to my administrative and exe cutive abilities are also ap preciated and serve as further incentive towards my com mitment to provide the best possible service to our pro grams, the disadvantaged and the community. Your constant vigilance in behalf of the community, willingness to stand up and be counted opposing and exposing all who would de stroy or afflict our com munity are just a few of the qualities which make the Portland Observer outstand ing. Personally, and in behalf of the Board of Directors of the Portland Metropolitan Steer ing Committee and staff, we thank you for your interest and support. Sincerely, Cleveland Gilcrease Executive Director, Portland Metropolitan Steering Committee 1 almost $300 to delend him self from the [ mi I icv ! This is what his mother told me. 2. Something else that troubles me is that the in vestigative report docs not deal with the questions I raised in my letter to you of ( Ictnbi I I. 197 I The Offlm■ admit using mace to prevent Clarence from harming him self. Clarence is saying to me that if he was such a danger to himself why didn’t they take him ’<> the county hospital which he says is what the police do regularly with persons they feel are deranged. There is no answer to the question of why he was not released when bail was [«»sled. There is no explana tion of the twelve hour delay in [MTinitting the phone call guaranteed by the law. There is no explanation that says why there was the seven hour delay before he was informed of the charge against him. I have written Sheriff Pur cell asking that the report to the sheriff on this case tie made available for me to read. There is a kind of doubt that enter« my mind (»ecause the Portland ,x>lice re|M»rt on this case does not go into more detail about what hapfiened in the jail, it seems that the one jurisdic tion does not want to lx- put in the position of reflecting adversely on the other juris diction. If this is the case this represents a kind of con venient way to obscure what needs to lx- made known. 3, Also. I have this ques tion. From the report by the Portland police investigating this situation Clarence is made out to ap|x»ar very unstable, as though he were on medication. He is made to appear as though he were in some maniac state when this incident happened. The profound irony is that Clarence is presently, so he tells me, a psychiatric conn selor and employed, as I understand it, by the medical school: also that Dr. John Butler gives him a g<M>d re port on his mental Health. Since Dr. Butler is presently out of town I haven't b«-en able to check this out. I. Finally, in talking with Susan Kerr of your office, she tells me the Eugene ,M»lice did have a record on Clarence. Clarence says this is in fact the case but that this is an instance where the charges were drop|icd; in other words, Clarence is in fact tx'ing [M-nali/ed because the full disposition of the case was not made known to Susan by the Eugene police) If this i» true this is exactly a practice that one of the Ad Hoc Police Community Bela lions Committee lulls at the last session of the legislature was attempting to deal with: it represents a very daiuug ing mis use of records I do not know what else to say except that I am grateful to you for what you have done thus far in showing great concern for this case; at th«» same time I want you to know I still have severe doubts that we know the truth. Sincerely yours. Rev. Austin 11 Richardson Not Everyone Subscribes To The 1 Portland Observer b a tth e n , aot ev ery o n e c o m e s la o a t o f t h e r a in , c it h e r . H o w A b o u t Y ou ? $5.25 RATES: in Tri-County Area and Armed Services $6.00 DEADLINES Deadline for ad copy and classified advertisement is Tuesday, 5:00 p.m. of the week of the issue. Deadline for stories and announcements is Monday, 12:00 noon. The Observer welcomes your "Letters to the Editor . which will be printed, space permitting. Name and ad dress must appear on all letters. le tte rs will be edited to meet space require ments. PORTLAND OBSERVER P.O. Box 3137 Portland, Oregon 9720ft N am e O ther Areas of the US